Double delight for record-breaking Shaw

Graham Shaw wrote himself into the history books on a remarkable Irish Senior Cup final day at Belfield that left Loreto and Glenanne with much to celebrate. Shaw became the first person to be on the winning side in two ISC finals on the same day — one as a coach to Loreto, the other in a man-of-the-match performance in the Glens engine room, and spoke with pride of the struggle to juggle both commitments.

First, he watched his Loreto outfit claim victory in the women’s competition, defeating Railway Union on strokes after a tense 2-2 draw. That final was watched by one Tom Humphries, the legendary Irish Times sportswriter, who was invited by Railway’s Helen Johnson to put his money where his mouth was and come to watch women’s sport. He duly made the event the centrepiece of his popular Locker Room column in today’s Times, under the headline ‘Women’s hockey has everything but an audience‘. Nikki Symmons was among five players on the pitch who had barely got Ireland’s frantic World Cup qualification campaign in Chile seven days previous out of her legs, but she turned in a majestic two-goal performance to take the player of the match gong. The first of those was a 23rd-minute drag-flick, while the second, coming seven minutes later, was one of the finest goals ever to grace one of world hockey’s oldest competitions. She cut in on the right of the circle and unleashed a stunning reverse-stick shot into the far top corner for a two-goal lead at the break. But her international counterpart Emma Smyth began to exert her creative influence in the second period, and Railway were back in it when Jean McDonnell fired in a 43rd-minute strike off a short corner switch. And they drew level with 15 minutes to go, Smyth picking out Cork camogie star Emer Dillon, whose crash ball was diverted past Loreto netminder Louisa Healy by Patricia O’Dwyer. Golden-goal extra time failed to yield any more goals — Railway’s Isobel Joyce’s snap-shot from close-range was the best of the chances, but it fell wide — and 18-year-old Hannah Matthews stepped up to convert the winning penalty stroke as Loreto claimed the shootout 4-2. The men’s final was a more straightforward affair, as Glenanne turned the screw in the first half to run out 4-1 winners over Monkstown and complete Shaw’s magnificent day. ‘Town, seeking a first title since 1914, started brightly, with Gareth Watkins and Billy McHenry forcing saves out of Stephen Doran. But Glens hit the front through Shane O’Donoghue — son of Monkstown coach Rory — and that lead was doubled by a trademark Stephen Butler drag-flick.

The third was the best of the game, as O’Donoghue broke 70 metres out of defence after shutting down a Monkstown corner, before threading a pass through the retreating cover for Richie Shaw to sweep past the on-rushing Monkstown keeper David Fitzgerald. The Dun Laoghaire men finally hit back when Ian Allen cracked home an upright reverse just after half-time, following a corner breakdown that saw Doran deny Andy Ewington and Andrew Ward. But Butler — playing one of his last games for Glens before he moves to Belgium — quelled any hopes of a revival with another drag, giving Glens a first title since 2007 . Meanwhile, pulling out two good performances against quality opposition in less than 24 hours proved beyond Bandon this weekend, as they came home empty-handed from the men’s Irish Hockey League wildcard playoffs for the third year in succession. They produced a gritty performance in going down 3-1 to Lisnagarvey on Saturday, a win which guaranteed the Ulster side a place in next season’s competition, having seen off YMCA 1-0 on Friday night. That left Bandon in a winner-takes-all showdown with YM yesterday morning, but they unravelled spectacularly in going down 8-0 to the Dubliners, with Mikey Fry, Luke Chadwick and Andrew Walker firing a brace each. Highlights of both Irish Senior Cup finals will be shown tonight on RTÉ 2 at 8pm. For Adrian Boehm’s photos from the men’s Irish Senior Cup final, click here. Sportsfile’s pics from the same game are here while Inpho’s shots can be seen here (bottom page). For more of Adrian’s photos from the ESB Women’s Irish Senior Cup final, click here, for Sportsfile’s set of photos from the game, click here and Inpho’s pics can be found here.